A/N: Thank you so much, Caranath, ILoveMom, Jabba1, Really Cinderella, TrixieNancy124, the. vulture, Stork Hardy, Ealasaid Una, leyapearl, Amy McGee, Tigress2929, SC15, and Yasmin for their reviews on the last chapter; in fact, thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing this story. I greatly appreciate every one of you! Lastly, I want to thank supernaturalsam, without whom this story probably wouldn't have been written at all.

Well, here comes the last chapter you guys. Hope you all like fluff...

"I'm thinking about asking Frank to marry me." Nancy said suddenly. She and Vanessa were sitting at a table outside of a cafe in downtown Bayport, having lunch. It had been nearly three weeks since Nancy's return from Egypt.

Vanessa paused with her sandwich halfway to her mouth, looking like she didn't quite know how to respond to that.

"When I was stuck in Egypt, I told him in a phone call that when I came back, I wanted to marry him for real." Nancy explained. "He said of course we could, if I wanted to, and we ended up kind of fighting about it, but..." she sighed. "We've talked a lot about what happened in Egypt, but we haven't talked much about what we're going to do now, and in the future."

"Okay..." Vanessa nodded, encouraging her to go on.

Nancy wiped her fingers on her napkin and reached into her purse, drawing out a gray envelope. "I got this in the mail this morning." she said, handing it across the table. "There was no return address, and the postmark is completely illegible, but I know who sent it."

Vanessa opened the envelope, her eyebrows rising as her eyes were met with the soft gleam of gold. "Is this...?"

"Frank's wedding ring." Nancy said. "The Gray Man must have recovered it from the double and decided to return it to us."

"The envelope is addressed to 'Nancy Drew.'" Vanessa noted, handing it back. "Maybe he's... trying to tell you that it's your decision, as to what you want to do with it."

"That was my thought." Nancy agreed, nodding. She sighed, taking the ring out of the envelope and rolling it between her fingers pensively. "But I'm scared. I'm not sure if I could take it if he said no."

"I don't think he'll say no, Nancy."

"He might say yes despite not really wanting to." Nancy said. "That would be worse."

Vanessa shook her head. "Honestly. Do you really think Frank would do that to you? He loves you, Nancy. It's as obvious as anything."

"I know he does." Nancy said, a hint of frustration creeping into her voice. "It's just that... we used to be totally ready for this. But now, marriage seems like this huge, significant thing, and if we get married for real... I don't know. It's like acknowledging that the double got there first."

Vanessa said nothing for a long moment, toying nervously with her water glass. After a minute she finally said, "I should probably tell you that Joe and I got married. In Aruba, right after it happened."

"What?" Nancy said, surprised. "Really?"

Vanessa nodded. "He asked me if we could do it, get married for real, in private, and I knew that it was really important to him. So before we flew home we found someone to do the ceremony for us. It was nothing flashy; we obviously didn't have any guests... I mean, technically, we were already legally official, but Joe needed to feel like we'd done it right, and I did too. He and Frank missed the wedding, Nancy. They're dealing with the same guilt that we are, just from the opposite side."

Nancy bit her lip, nodding.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Vanessa continued. "It's just... well, you know how upset Joe was with you and Frank at first, and then you were both having such a hard time that I felt like telling you would just be rubbing it in."

"I understand." Nancy said. But she had one more question. "Are you happy you did it?"

Vanessa smiled. "Yeah. I am."

"Where is it? Where is it?"

She was sprawled, shivering, on the bloodstained floor of the balcony. "Under the dresser. It slid under by accident when I dropped my purse... It's been under there for days." Her voice was shrill and hysterical.

Frank II lowered the gun. "By accident." he repeated. "And all this time, you've-" He grimaced, raising the gun again. "You little..."

She looked up into familiar brown eyes, eyes that she was used to seeing shining with love and concern, but which now gleamed with malice and bloodlust. It didn't seem fair that they were the last thing she'd ever see.

He pulled the trigger and the world exploded into pain.

Nancy's eyes shot open and fixed upon the bedroom ceiling fan, which rotated lazily, cooling the sweat on her skin and making her shiver. She pulled the sheet up around her shoulders. After a moment, she reached for the man lying next to her.

"Frank?"

He stirred briefly before opening his eyes. "Another nightmare?" he asked, his voice slightly raspy from sleep.

She nodded.

He blinked again, and now his eyes were clear and focused. It never failed to amaze her how quickly Frank could go from being dead asleep to completely alert. He sat up and reached out to her, allowing her to make the final move of crawling into his arms. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"It was about when he tried to shoot me." she explained, leaning back into his body as her shaking began to subside. The nightmares weren't a nightly occurrence anymore, and thankfully, she'd also gotten to the point where having Frank there was more of a comfort than a fear. Sometimes she elaborated more when she told him about her dreams, but this dream had been brutally simple.

When she didn't continue, Frank asked, "Do you think it has anything to do with tomorrow?"

Tomorrow. Tomorrow was their wedding day. It had been two weeks since she'd received Frank's ring in the mail, since she'd confessed her fears to Vanessa, since she'd found her faith in Frank and asked him if they could do another ceremony—one for them. "No." she said. "I don't think it does." There was a stubbornness to her tone, an indicator for him that she was confident about what they were doing, that she wasn't going to change her mind.

She knew that he'd picked up on it when he laughed into her hair. "Good." he said softly. "I don't think so either."

"Good." she said decisively.

He squeezed her softly. "Do you know how happy I was when you asked me to marry you?"

"Probably about as happy as I was a year ago when you asked me." Nancy guessed.

"Happier."

"Impossible." Nancy disagreed with a smile.

"No, really." Frank murmured. He unwrapped one arm from her waist and used it to pull back the hair hanging over her ear and shoulder, pressing a short, soft kiss against her neck.

The kiss became a line of kisses, and the memory of her dream faded away completely as his caresses captured her complete attention. She felt her heartbeat speed up, felt her breathing grow erratic. She'd had her fair share of panic attacks in the weeks since her ordeal with the Network... but she realized, with a heady feeling, that this wasn't one of them.

She turned in his arms, melting into him as their mouths connected. Warmth was coursing through her—it seemed impossible that she'd just been cold. His t-shirt bunched up under her hands, and she had the sudden impulse to pull it off of him. He was clutching her waist just as tightly, and a whimper of desire escaped her throat.

Frank pulled away, dropping his hands from her waist as if he'd been burned. "God, Nan... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The air felt cool on her flushed skin once more as she opened her eyes and looked at him in the semi-darkness. "For what?" she asked, her voice raspy with need. But she knew what: she and Frank hadn't done anything more intimate than cuddling for nearly two months, and this encounter had definitely been shaping up to go farther than that. Somehow, she felt nothing of the nerves or flashbacks she'd expected to have—instead, a thrill of anticipation shot through her at the thought.

Frank scrubbed a hand over his face, and she could see that he was trying to get himself under control. "I shouldn't have... Are you okay?"

When he'd first pulled away, she'd been a little worried that he didn't want her... but it was plain that that was far from the case, and it emboldened her. She swallowed hard. "I was until you stopped." she confessed.

His eyes snapped up to hers. "What?" he asked, his voice low and rough enough to make her heart beat just a little bit faster.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered whether he'd agreed to marry her despite thinking that they'd never have sex again, and she had to suppress a laugh. "I didn't want you to stop." she told him breathlessly.

He closed his eyes briefly, and she got the sense that he was physically holding himself back. "I don't want to push you, Nan."

"And you never have." she murmured. She reached out and cupped his face, drawing it closer to her own. "Frank..." She knew he was worried that he would hurt her, and with that one word she tried to convey her complete trust in him.

His fingers skimmed lightly over her arm before finding and taking her hand. He brought it up to his lips, and the hot kiss he placed in her palm made her blood start racing anew. "I'll stop if you want me to." he promised huskily, his mouth ghosting over the side of her thumb, the pulse point of her wrist. "Just say the word."

It was like a weight lifting off of her heart. As his lips began their agonizingly slow journey down the pale skin of her inner forearm, Nancy curled herself around his body, sliding her other hand into his hair. Her own lips teased his ear as she whispered, "I'll never want you to stop."

"There you go." Vanessa said, stepping back and looking at her work with a critical eye.

"Thanks, Vanessa. It's great." Nancy said warmly, checking her hair in the mirror. Vanessa had left most of it down in loose ringlets around her shoulders, but pulled one side back and pinned it in the back, tucking a white flower into her hair. It was a far cry from the formal-looking bun and veil she'd worn at her "first" wedding, and Nancy was perfectly happy about that. She hadn't wanted to wear her wedding dress again, hadn't wanted to recall memories of that first day, and so a simple white sundress had suited her perfectly. Today wasn't about ceremony and tradition, it was about celebrating with Frank.

Although she was pleased with her appearance, Nancy couldn't help but sigh as she looked in the mirror. This was her real wedding, the only one that Frank would get, and although it was going to be as happy and meaningful as she could make it, she still regretted that he would never get the chance to be married in the grand church among all his friends and family.

But their friends and family could never know about what happened with the doubles. Even if Nancy did have government clearance to tell them—and she certainly didn't—she doubted that she would be able to, and that they would believe her if she did. Even if, miraculously, they believed her, they would never really understand...

"If they were here, they'd all be just as happy and proud today as they were then." Vanessa said quietly.

Nancy turned to face her friend, no longer surprised that she seemed to know exactly what Nancy was thinking. "This is the real deal, and our families... it just feels like they should be here. My dad, Fenton and Laura, Hannah, Bess and George..."

Vanessa reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "I know. In some ways, I wish we could tell them about all this too... but honestly, in some ways, I'm glad I don't have to."

"You're right." Nancy agreed, smiling sadly. "Me too."

There was a light knock on the door and Joe peeked in. "Pastor's here."

Nancy nodded. "I'm ready."

Joe stepped into the room. He, like Frank, had foregone the formal tuxedo, instead choosing a nice suit. He smiled at Nancy. "You look great, Nan."

"Thanks." Nancy said. To her horror, she felt her eyes begin to well with tears.

"Whoa!" Joe said in alarm. "What's wrong?"

Nancy quickly dabbed her tears away with her wrist before they could do irreparable damage to her makeup. "I don't know," she confessed with a watery laugh. She spoke to Joe and Vanessa as she said, "I'm so glad you're both here. Thank you."

Joe reached out and pulled her into a hug. "Of course we're here, we're family."

This almost set Nancy off again, especially since it was just a few short weeks ago that she'd wondered if Joe would ever forgive her and Frank for what had happened with the doubles, but she managed to keep it together. "I've always wanted an annoying little brother." she joked hoarsely into his shoulder.

"Looks like it's your lucky day then." Vanessa said, grinning when Joe made a face at her.

"'Little'?" he grumbled, just as he always did when Frank used the expression. He pulled away from Nancy and looked into her face. "Hey, I'm glad you guys are doing this." he said seriously. "It means a lot to Frank."

"It means a lot to me too." Nancy answered.

Joe nodded. "And... Nan? I'm sorry you didn't get to come to our wedding. I wanted to marry Van as soon as possible, but if I'd really thought about it, I'd have wanted you and Frank there too."

"I know." Nancy said, squeezing his arms. "Thanks." It felt like an understanding had passed between them. She and Joe had been family before the doubles incident, and they would be again... officially, now.

"Come on." he said, offering one arm to Nancy and the other to Vanessa. "Frank's been waiting forever for this."

"Is he nervous?" Vanessa asked sympathetically as they headed for the main door of the chapel.

"Not a bit." Joe said. "He's a rock."

Nancy smiled. That was the old Frank. Never wavering in his commitment to her. And looking inside herself, she found that she wasn't nervous either.

There was no string quartet, no grand procession down the aisle, but none of that really mattered. The small chapel was bright and cozy, and the warm smile on Frank's face when he first saw her was all she could have asked for. He looked quite handsome himself in his dark gray suit, and her heart gave that familiar flutter when his eyes locked on hers.

Joe and Vanessa took their places on either side of the aisle while Nancy moved to Frank's side, slipping her hands into his. The pastor, a sandy-haired young man with an indulgent expression, read the opening prayer.

Frank's thumb skimmed over her fingers in a light caress, and Nancy's cheeks grew warm as she recalled how perfect he'd been last night, how gentle and loving he'd been with her. She knew that he was still being careful with her, that he was still worried about the lingering effects the double's treatment might have on her, but he wasn't giving up. And neither was she.

She didn't doubt that there would be bad days ahead, that the nightmares would still come, that the unknowing references their families and friends made to the wedding and honeymoon would still be painful.

But this time, when she looked down at the ring newly-replaced on her finger, it didn't feel binding like handcuffs or gleam like the malicious reminder of a past mistake. Instead, it shined like a promise.

And when the pastor proclaimed them husband and wife, and Frank leaned in to capture her lips with no fear in his eyes, no hesitation...

That felt like a promise too.